Guest posts

What Type Of Writer Are You?

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I have a special guest for you today, with a thought-provoking post. He sure had me wondering what type of writer I am, and I’m betting he’ll do the same for you. Paul Dale Anderson is the author of 27 novels and hundreds of short stories. Paul earned graduate degrees in Educational Psychology and taught college-level Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) and hypnosis courses as well as writing workshops at universities and novel and short story writing for Writers Digest Schools.

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Each writer has her or his own distinct “voice.” Some writers spend decades looking for their unique voices, and others find theirs with the very first story they write. Voice and style are related but different.

Voice is what a reader hears inside his or her head when reading words. Storytelling is an art that existed long before the written word, and the best storytellers have a natural rhythm that mesmerizes listeners with alliteration, repetition, rhyme, parallel structures, and patterns of pacing that enchant and entrance.

Too many writers are unaware of how the human mind processes language. Various structures in the brain—some in the left hemisphere and some in the right—work together to make sense out of symbols. Symbols include, besides alpha-numeric digital representations, sounds, gestures, signs, maps, smells, tastes, and physical feelings. It is the mind that gives meaning to each symbol based on prior associations dredged out of memory. The map is not the territory but merely a representation of the territory.

During conversations with fellow writers at the 2015 Nebula Award Banquet in Chicago, I identified successful new writers by which symbols had salience for them and the way they accessed information. Some writers were very verbal and had a fluidity of language based primarily on auditory processing of sensory input. Those people were able to instantly duplicate and respond to what they heard as they heard it. Sounds themselves had salience. Those writers are akin to the musician who plays mostly by ear, translating auditory input into kinesthetic output without the additional steps auditory-digital types like me require to process input and output.

One of those writers admitted to having difficulty reading stories published in books and sf magazines. It wasn’t until he listened to books on tape or CD—auditory files—that he found his own voice for his writing. He “hears” stories inside his head. Then he translates those stories into symbols that comprise the written word based on the spoken word. Once he discovered where his voice came from, he has become a prolific author.

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I work differently. I “see” stories, then translate them into words that describe my visions. First I see the scenes. Then I see the written symbols that best represent that scene. I see each letter, each punctuation mark, each space at the beginning of a new paragraph, the way words and white space look laid-out on a page, the way each page contributes to the story as a whole.

I write at the keyboard where my fingers automatically translate the symbols in my head into kinesthetic actions that produce the symbols that appear on the screen or piece of paper. I cannot listen to music while writing. Background music interferes with the words in my head. Other writers find that listening to music while writing is a big help. Different strokes for different folks.

If you are primarily auditory like Stephen King, Kevin J. Anderson, and the guy I met at the nebulas, you might find writing easier if you dictate and capture the words into a digital recorder or into a program like Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking. Dragon for Windows or Macs will type your spoken words for you with up to 95% accuracy. There is a slight learning curve, but it will increase the output of an auditory person exponentially.

If you are primarily kinesthetic, you might prefer to write with a pen on paper before revising your works on a keyboard or sending your notebooks to a typist. The feel of the paper itself, the touch of the pen to paper, produces words from your subconscious faster and better than any other process. Kinesthetic writers also love to pound out words on manual typewriters. They write with a flourish that adds to their style. James Patterson is a kinesthetic writer.

If you’re more like me, however, you separate the process into a series of “drafts.” The first draft is primarily visual, and you describe what you see.

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The second draft includes imagined sounds, tastes, feelings, smells. During the third draft I read all the words aloud to hear how the words sound and to feel how they roll off my tongue. I add punctuation marks to match my pauses, inflections, intonations. I tend to cut unnecessary flourishes out of my stories unless they add momentum to the plot or help describe a specific character.

If a story is to work, it must engage all of the reader’s senses. Some readers are primarily auditory, some are visual, some are kinesthetic, some olfactory, and some gustatory. The majority of people in this world are auditory. They respond best to dialogue, to alliteration, to phrasing. Kinesthetic people respond best to action and they translate words on paper into muscle movements. If you want to appeal to every reader, you need to reach each of them in their own personal comfort zones

I can listen to music all day and appreciate the rhythms but not duplicate the sounds “as is” on a musical instrument. I can, however, imagine the notes appearing individually on a musical score, write those notes down, arrange counterpoint and harmony, and play the music on nearly any instrument by following the sheet music. After translating the visual score into kinesthetic fingerings or vocalizations, I can practice until I get the rhythm right. I then artificially add feeling to change tone and timbre and provide warmth to the composition. The end result might be the same, but it takes an auditory-digital a much longer time to get there than an auditory-kinesthetic. I don’t do well at impromptu jam-sessions. I don’t hear or feel the music. I see the music.

It took me fifty years to find my voice. I went about it the long and hard way. Instead of listening to other voices, I saw written words on paper. I only imagined what those words sounded like. It wasn’t until I read my written words aloud at conventions that I decided to include the spoken word as an important part of my writing process.

Some people tell me they find it difficult to imagine. They feel, they do, they hear, they speak. They don’t see images. They’re not lying. They can’t easily visualize. The way to reach such people is to touch them, to speak to them, to mimic them and then lead them to accept new experiences via their primary senses. It’s easy once you have established rapport. Let them hear and feel what you want them to see. Images will eventually appear in their mind’s eye. It just takes some people longer than others to see what you want them to see.

Auditory digitals, like me, often get hung up on description. We tend to write long narratives that include copious details better left to dialogue. We tend to view scenes from multiple viewpoints rather than a personal POV. We tend to lecture and to provide too much information, much more than any one character (or any one reader) is capable of handling. Therefore, we need to be ruthless in our editing. We need to butcher our little darlings. We need to cut out all the fat but leave enough meat on the bone to be both nourishing and palatable.

To find your own voice, determine how you primarily access information and process sensual input. Listen to your voice, see your voice, feel your voice, taste your voice, smell your voice. Temper your voice with style. Style is deliberate manipulation of words to invoke more than one sense by using alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, metaphor, simile, and all those other verbal skills you possess but don’t normally use. Begin in your own comfort zone and venture outside it. Write until all your fingers are sore, you’re vividly hallucinating, and the voice inside your head is telling you what to do next. Then stop just long enough to smell the roses and to taste success before you pick up the pen to write again.

Tell your stories in your own way with your own voice. Just remember that not everyone will be able to see or hear your words the same way you do.
PaulAnderson RVC AG 1

Darkness, the third novel in the Winds-series, is now available for pre-order at http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Winds-Book-Paul-Anderson-ebook/dp/B00X52FVP4/ or http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/darkness-paul-dale-anderson/1121864147?ean=9780937491140

Instruments of Death, Paul’s crime-suspense series from Crossroad Press is also available for the Kindle and Nook.

Visit Paul’s website at www.pauldaleanderson.net

Can you answer the question posed in the title?

Searching for a way to commit fictional murder? Get your FREE copy of 50 Ways To Murder Your Fictional Characters. Click the title for a taste of what you’ll find inside.

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37 Comments

  • Tegon

    July 7, 2015 at 12:24 AM

    Hi Sue… loved this as well !! I write very much as you do. I see the pictures go by and I write down what I see. Then I have the computer read it back to me to see if it matches what I have in my head. I struggle with too much detail way to often. Very cool !I

    • Sue Coletta

      July 7, 2015 at 5:11 AM

      I’m so glad, Tegan! I’m glad you brought this up, because for the life of me I can’t make the darn computer read more than a paragraph at a time. Do you know if there’s a way to have the narrator read whole pages/Word docs?

      • Tegon

        July 7, 2015 at 11:24 PM

        Hi Sue… I use Screen Magic. It reads every word from first to last. I use it to listen for the rhythm of what I wrote to make sure it flows smoothly. It’s a great program ! What one are you using??

        • Sue Coletta

          July 8, 2015 at 5:44 AM

          Hi Tegon, I recently bought a new computer and am still getting used to the different programs and apps. I want the Dragon, but for now I’m using the narrator built into Word. I’m not crazy about the voice and the ability to only read highlighted text drives me insane. The Dragon takes up 2 gigs of hard drive, which I’m not crazy about. I’ll check out Screen Magic. Love the name. Thanks!

  • tracikenworth

    June 25, 2015 at 9:14 PM

    LOVE this!! I find it much easier to write longhand and then go back through editing to add the senses. I also read my work aloud during the second/third drafts just to make sure. I can’t listen to music and write, it drives me crazy.

  • jazzfeathers

    June 25, 2015 at 1:52 AM

    Such a fascinating article. Thanks so much for sharing, Sue and Paul 🙂

    So I’m a visual writer, I already knew that. I didn’t know this explais a few things about my writing process, like for example that I can’t listen to music when I write. I see I share this with many people who commented, and it kind of surprises me, because I read people talking about their playlist for writing so often, I thought my habit was ‘strange’ 😉
    I also feel very comfortable writing by hand, not the first draft, normally, but absolutely all revisions. I tried to revise on screen (it saves paper and ink, you know). No way. It just doesn’t work.

    It was really an interesting read and a discovery 🙂

  • danadelamar

    June 24, 2015 at 8:31 PM

    Great post! This explains a lot about my process. For example, I can’t listen to music when I write. I also feel that my best drafts are done by writing longhand in notebooks. They come out differently than if I compose at the keyboard. Very interesting. Thanks for posting. 🙂

    • Sue Coletta

      June 25, 2015 at 4:22 AM

      It cleared things up for me as well. I wrote my first novel longhand, but would never do it again. I’m more auditory so it makes sense. Have a wonderful, productive day, Dana!

  • Elizabeth Flygare

    June 24, 2015 at 6:02 PM

    As you and I both know, I am auditory kinesthetic, but this is the first time I have ever heard a succinct explanation for why I can play musical instruments by ear, and why some cannot. I am absolutely astounded by this article. It should be published in Psychology Today as well as in a widely-read writers’ periodical. I am visual as well – I can’t read a book if I don’t like the font and I don’t like the paper it’s printed on. I also visualize my characters and can describe scenes from forty years ago with a near-photographic memory. But I couldn’t follow the movie “The Sting.” I fell asleep.

    I will now return to conceptualizing the musical score to the movie that had better be made of your book, Abandoned. And Darkness, too, of course. Again, being visual as well, I can see the opening scene and titles as well as hearing the music for the beginning of Abandoned. I can even figure out the camera angles. Does that mean I’m digital, too?

  • Garry Rodgers

    June 24, 2015 at 12:25 PM

    Great post, Sue & Paul. I find the science behind why things work the way they do to be fascinating. Voice is such an individual thing and it’s what makes writing so interesting. I’ve always written just as I speak. Sometimes it’s gotten me into trouble.

    • Sue Coletta

      June 24, 2015 at 1:14 PM

      Voice is such a personal thing, and one of the hardest aspects of writing to master, IMO. Once a writer does find their voice…the moon and stars rejoice in heavenly bliss (the right side of my brain has taken over today ;-)).

  • coldhandboyack

    June 24, 2015 at 11:58 AM

    I have been through much of the same training as Paul. I am such a strong visual person I usually spike the meter in my classes. I have to make an effort to add squishy mud, frog sounds, and copper bile tastes.

  • sknicholls

    June 24, 2015 at 11:46 AM

    He explained an enormous amount of what I feel about my voice. I think one reason I’m not satisfied with Naked Alliances is that I changed, not only my style, but my voice. My husband thinks it works well for the story, but I don’t feel that it’s me. With my new WIP, I’m letting it flow naturally. I read it aloud afterwards and tweak it a bit. I can never write with background noise and have that habit of editing as I go. I have a naturally difficult time without writing descriptions and that sometimes comes off as verbose and too detailed. I know my first draft has to be cut and trimmed of the excess.

  • Mae Clair

    June 24, 2015 at 11:35 AM

    An interesting post. We definitely have different learning curves and methods for learning, so it’s understandable that would translate into our writing as well. Personally, I’m extremely visual. I see and envision things easily. I like to conjure scenes in my head and then transfer those scenes to the keyboard using sensory input. When I write however, I read aloud from day one/draft one to influence style. Thanks for sharing, Sue!

    • Sue Coletta

      June 24, 2015 at 11:51 AM

      I read aloud from day one, too. After Paul and I had a discussion about this, I realized I tend to be more on the auditory side. What attracts me most to certain authors is their sentence rhythm. As I read, the words evoke emotion, even when the author isn’t using sensory details. Because I’m attracted to rhythm I concentrate on it in my writing, too. It’s a fascinating subject.

  • Margot Kinberg

    June 24, 2015 at 10:50 AM

    This is absolutely fascinating! There is a great deal of research (e.g. the work of Howard Gardner) that shows that we all learn and know differently. We all process differently too. This is just as true of writers as it is of anyone else. It makes sense to think about the sort of learner one is and the way one uses language to help find one’s voice.

    • Sue Coletta

      June 24, 2015 at 10:54 AM

      I found this fascinating too, Margot. I’m not familiar with Howard Gardner’s work, but I’ll be sure to read his articles. The mind is a mysterious and wondrous place.